POV of an inanimate object

wildcatter67 · Feb 13, 2008

Can anyone link me to a short story written in the POV of an inanimate object?

I think I want to try to write a story about a $1.00 bill. I need to do a bit of research on how money is made and disposed of, but the trickiest part will be the POV.

My short story class is supposed to write about "The Battle of the Sexes" to show the difference between male and female dialogue. This isn't a good topic for me with my past trauma issues. I'm trying to find a creative way to tweak the assignment. Transferring the money from person to person will allow me to use dialogue from a variety of people.

PattiTheWicked · Feb 13, 2008

There's a movie about a violin and all the people it connects with throughout its lifetime. Can't remember the name of it (maybe just "the Violin"?) but it seemed like a neat idea.

TheIT · Feb 13, 2008

PattiTheWicked said:
There's a movie about a violin and all the people it connects with throughout its lifetime. Can't remember the name of it (maybe just "the Violin"?) but it seemed like a neat idea.

The Red Violin? Sounds familiar.

I can't think of a written story offhand with the POV of an object, but the first thing which came to mind was an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show where Rob did a comedy sketch from the POV of a brand-new car.

PattiTheWicked · Feb 13, 2008

That's the one! The Red Violin.

Stew21 · Feb 13, 2008

Tom Robbins has a whole mini cast of inanimate objects in Still Life With Woodpecker.
A can of beans, a bent spoon, and several others, though I can't remember if he did any pov for them.

pdr · Feb 14, 2008

The title...

was 'The Dress' and to my shame I cannot remember the author.
POV was omniscient 3rd. It worked well.

Stijn Hommes · Feb 16, 2008

In the US there is the Bureau of Engravings and 'Something' - don't know the exact name. Did you know that if they could reconstitute more than 50% of damaged currency, you can get it refunded?

Matera the Mad · Feb 18, 2008

The Short, Happy Life of an Apostrophlea, by Yours Truly...the POV of an erroneous puctuation

JBI · Feb 18, 2008

Borges must have used this. He used every other type of narrator, I'm sure he got this one too. Though I think his weirdest is the point of view of an imaginary friend.

Chasing the Horizon · Feb 18, 2008

The only short story I ever actually completed was from the POV of a room. The room was omniscient to everything that happened inside it, but blind to everything happening in the rest of the apartment, so those events had to be communicated through sounds and smells. The narrator's voice was devoid of emotion, since inanimate objects don't have feelings. That's the only real short story I ever finished.

To me, the way to handle an object narrator is to use the omniscient and emotionless POV. The object is simply an observer to what's happening around it, with no feelings or opinions about any of it. At least, that's what worked in my story.

I've never read a story (other than my own) that used this POV, though I'm sure there are others out there somewhere. I don't read a whole lot of short stories.

JamieFord · Feb 18, 2008

A classic story without a human POV is There Will Come Soft Rains, by Ray Bradbury.

It's about an automated house after a nuclear calamity and the owners are long gone.

wildcatter67 · Feb 19, 2008

Thanks everyone!

Soccer Mom · Feb 22, 2008

JamieFord said:
A classic story without a human POV is There Will Come Soft Rains, by Ray Bradbury.

It's about an automated house after a nuclear calamity and the owners are long gone.

I highly recommend this one. It's fantastic.

blacbird · Feb 22, 2008

Soccer Mom said:
I highly recommend this one. It's fantastic.

Ditto this. One of his very best. He also did something like it in one of the Martian Chronicle tales, but I don't remember the name of that one.

I've tried this once, a story of about 2000 words I'm fairly pleased with (which I won't further detail), but which I can't imagine a market for and have never submitted anywhere.

Point being, it can be done, but is tricky.

caw

JeanneTGC · Feb 25, 2008

O. Henry and Mark Twain both did it, too.

HeronW · Feb 25, 2008

start with the cotton boll plucked by machine and added to millions of others--US bills are 100% cotton.

google: how is money made

tells about engraving, printing, etc.

POV of an inanimate object

wildcatter67

PattiTheWicked

Unleashing Hell.

TheIT

Infuriatingly Theoretical

PattiTheWicked

Unleashing Hell.

Stew21

pdr

Stijn Hommes

Know what you write...

Matera the Mad

Bartender, gimme a Linux Mint

JBI

Chasing the Horizon

Blowing in the Wind

JamieFord

giving resonant directions

wildcatter67

Soccer Mom

Crypto-fascist

blacbird

JeanneTGC

I am Catwoman...and Gini Koch

HeronW

Down Under Fan

POV of an inanimate object

Unleashing Hell.

Infuriatingly Theoretical

Unleashing Hell.

Know what you write...

Bartender, gimme a Linux Mint

Blowing in the Wind

giving resonant directions

Crypto-fascist

I *am* Catwoman...and Gini Koch

Down Under Fan

I am Catwoman...and Gini Koch